Facing possible bankruptcy, the city of Kyoto has drafted a financial restructuring plan that would trim its bureaucracy, reduce the number of elderly residents eligible for bus and subway discounts and cut spending on day care centers, the Japan Times reported. “I deeply regret the fact that we’ve been forced to rely on special measures in order to manage our finances,” Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa said Tuesday when announcing the plan.

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai on August 6 dismissed an application seeking the closure of Rolta India’s Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC), the Times of India reported. A consortium of lenders to Rolta represented by advocates Rohit Gupta and Nausher Kohli had opposed a plea for closure of the process, saying that they have an outstanding of around Rs 5,400 Crores.

There are seven bidders, including a couple of Asset Reconstruction Companies who have expressed preliminary interest to take over the beleaguered eye care chain Vasan Eye, the Times of India reported. The last date for submission of early interest ended July 19. The NCLT appointed resolution professional had called for early interest for Vasan Eye Care. India’s largest eye care chain Dr Agarwal’s Eye and MGM Hospital’s promoter MK Rajagopalan, Dr GSK Velu’s MaxiVision are among the list of bidders. Dr Amar Agarwal and MK Rajagopalan did not wish to comment on the bid.

China Evergrande Group’s stock and bonds jumped Wednesday after the company said it’s in talks to sell stakes in two of its units, potentially injecting fresh funds into the cash-strapped property firm, Bloomberg News reported. The discussions involve “several independent third-party investors,” the company said in a statement to the Hong Kong exchange late Tuesday. Talks involve Evergrande stakes in its electric vehicle start-up and property services units.

The regulatory storm that washed billions from Chinese corporate valuations in the name of curbing excesses exposes not only the policy risk under President Xi Jinping's increasingly activist tenure, but also the uncertainty over implementation, Reuters reported. Xi's campaign to clamp down on industries ranging from internet platforms and bitcoin to ride-hailing giant Didi Global and tutoring marks a historic shift as he prioritises broad-based prosperity over the all-out growth pursued for decades by China.

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan fell at the fastest rate this year to hit the lowest in 50 years for a July, thanks to funding support from the government and banks, a private-sector credit research firm said on Tuesday, Reuters reported. There were 476 company bankruptcies in July, down 40% from the same month a year ago, Tokyo Shoko Research showed, pointing to government help for corporate financing amid a resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Australia on Tuesday eased so-called continuous disclosure laws for publicly listed companies, which will now protect companies and their officers against liabilities for misleading and deceptive statements or forecasts unless "fault" is proven, Reuters reported. The new laws come as part of a broader clamp down on the litigation funding industry following a surge in costly class action lawsuits.

The Piramal group has sought the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) permission to reach a settlement and issue new debentures to the foreign lenders of DHFL, in what would be the first of its kind transaction, the Economic Times of India reported. Offshore investors, some of whose identities are not readily available, had put in close to ₹850 crore in masala bonds sold by DHFL — the non-bank mortgage lender that Piramal wants to take over following a bankruptcy court ruling.

The number of Malaysians becoming bankrupt and the number of companies closing down or winding up may increase when the current moratorium on bank loans ends, two economists said, Malay Mail reported. Sunway University economics professor Yeah Kim Leng said that the loan moratorium allows financially-distressed borrowers to avoid becoming bankrupt by postponing loan repayments, but said this would mean that there could be more bankruptcies once the moratorium period ends, The Sunday Star reported today.